Summer Book Bingo: Two Recommendations from Katharine Wright
June 28, 2017
Summer Book Bingo is designed to provide free summer reading fun for both adults and kids. Last summer, participants read a total of 8717 books, and we received a whopping 248 blackout cards and 227 bingo cards—let’s do it again! Swing by one of SAL’s partner bookstores this year to grab an Adult or Kid Bingo Card or download it here and spend the summer of ’17 reading great books.
Time to play “Would You Rather”! If you had to choose, would you rather travel to the International Space Station, or back in time to London punk scene in the 1970s? In this guest post, Katharine Wright – friend and patron of SAL – tells us how to go to both places with these two recommendations from her bingo board. . .
By Katharine Wright
An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything by Col. Chris Hadfield falls into a few categories on my bingo card; “choose a book by its cover,” “genre new to me” (self-help/business), and “biography/memoir.” I haven’t quite decided which category it will fill just yet.
When I picked up the book, I was so busy looking at the image on the cover and giggling over the title that I didn’t realize it was labeled as self-help/business. If I had paid attention and seen that, the book might’ve stayed on the table at the bookstore and not come home with me. That being said, Col. Hadfield’s lessons did resonate and gave me a few things to think about as I move through my own daily life:
1) Do sweat the small stuff; it could save your life.
2) A Swiss Army Knife really is a useful tool.
3) The lack of gravity affects everything, even jelly on a PB & J.
4) Velcro is your best friend.
5) Just because it is impossible, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. You might just make it possible.
Col. Hadfield starts the book at the beginning of his journey to become an astronaut and ends with his retirement. His story is peppered with lessons he learned along the way and how they apply to everyday life, not just life in space. He discusses how his goals effected his family and the importance of their support on his journey, and I was left with the message that no matter how high you climb, it is important to remain humble.
Next on my list, for the “about art or an artist” square, is Vivienne Westwood by Vivienne Westwood and Ian Kelly. She helped shape the aesthetic of the 1970s punk movement, drawing from counterculture and subculture. Fashion designer, activist, pioneer, and living legend, she breaks social conventions and is a force to be reckoned with. She’s been one of my favorite designers ever since I became aware of fashion at twelve years of age, and I cannot wait to read her story.
Katharine Wright lives in Seattle with two street fightin’ cats, a spazoid dog, and her permanent roommate, AKA, the love of her life. She spends her days trying to figure out how to stretch time so she can read more books and spend more time with cherished friends and family.